F. Scott Fitzgerald once said there are no second acts in American lives. However, after having spent 20 years in the IT industry, serving in various roles from system administration to network engineer (10 of which have been in education), I’ve recently decided that my second act should be as a freelance writer covering the investor's view of the technology industry. My background in engineering gave me what I consider strong analytical skills. My 15 years of trading and investing gives me the experience to assess equities and appraise their value. I am a Warren Buffett disciple that bases investment decisions on the quality of a company's management, its growth prospects, return on equity and price-to-earnings ratio. I employ conservative strategies to increase capital while also keeping a watchful eye on macro-economic events to mitigate downside risk.

3 Tech Dividends To Buy Now

Wall Street presents many battles. Investors argue the merits of long versus short positions. There’s also the constant fight over valuation, price versus “potential” and what is cheap versus expensive. However, no other debate brings the intensity and vile of dividend paying stocks.

Granted, there’s an insatiable appetite for growth. On the other hand, dividend payers present that element of safety not always found in growth stocks. However, these two ideals don’t have to oppose each other. Here are three tech dividends that provide the best of both worlds.

With a yield of 1.90%, Apple is one of the most generous payers on the market. However, the company is on a growth trajectory that is not often present in companies of its size – exceeding even the most bullish expectations imposed by Wall Street.

Despite growing pessimism about its growth momentum and perceived inability to compete with Google and Microsoft, Apple’s most recent quarter told a different story. The company posted revenues that soared 27% with 23% increase in profits. The company’s Q1 report, which is due out on January 23, should remind investors of the dominant ability and respect that Apple still deserves

The company is projecting earnings of $11.75 per share on revenues of $52 billion. Analyst projections are much higher. Street sees EPS of $13.33 on revenue of $54.5 billion. It’s a show of confidence that these numbers are meaningfully higher than Apple’s. On the other hand, Apple is known to under-promise and over-deliver.

Also, that iPhones have regained its U.S. market lead and represent well over 50% of Apple’s fiscal Q1 revenues, the company should have no problem reaching the high end of its estimates. Apple has been making the Street look foolish for years. I would be a buyer here ahead of earnings. Shares should regain the $600 range following the Q1 report and reach $650 to $725 by the end of the second quarter.

Cisco – Yield 2.80%

With a 2.80% yield, Cisco was already one of the best dividend payers on the market. The company is no longer considered a market darling. However, Wall Street is becoming a bit more forgiving of the company’s past mistakes, many of which Cisco has corrected.

Recently, Simon Leopold, an analyst at Raymond James said that shares of Cisco have the potential to reach $25, a premium of 30%. In his research note, Leopold also offered the following:

“We expect Cisco to outline its strategic vision to become a broader IT supplier with a greater software bias, which aids margin. We expect Cisco maintains its 5-7% long term growth target while offering cautious commentary on the near term.”

I agree with Leopold. However, I believe that his price target is short by 20%. Cisco can easily reach $30 by the second half of 2013. And the company’s recent string of acquisitions will be the key driver of that value. Also, investors can point to Cisco’s recent Q2 guidance for hints of what lies ahead.

For instance, the company has only projected year-over-year growth of only 3.5% to 5.5% with the top range coming in a full point below Cisco’s historical average. Immediately this tells me that the company is not done doing deals. Too, that operating income surged 20% means that management’s efforts to reorganize received validation.

Also, with a strong balance sheet, respectable yield and very limited downside risk, Cisco will prove to be one of 2013’s top stories. At minimum, $25 seems a fair valuation for the stock. But, $30 remains a realistic target based on cash flow sales trends, which includes 22% aggregate growth in services.

Aside from being a dominant tech power that is positioned for sustained growth, Oracle also proved that it is a savvy dividend payer by accelerating its next three dividend payments into one check at the height of the fiscal cliff situation. Better still, Oracle consistently demonstrates that it is able to grow where rivals can’t.

For the period ending November 30th, Oracle reported net income of $2.6 billion, or 53 cents per share – representing an 18% increase year-over-year. The company said excluding charges related to acquisitions and other costs, earnings would have arrived at 64 cents per share – enough to beat analysts’ estimates of 61 cents per share.

The company reported a 3% increase in revenue reaching $9.1 billion – exceeding Street estimates by $900 million. Software licenses and subscriptions business performed exceptionally well – soaring 17% year-over-year. This was good enough to exceed management’s most bullish projections three months ago.

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